Photo of the Toronto Blue Jay's spring training baseball stadium in Dunedin, Florida.

Image Credit: Steve Aynes (CC BY 2.0)

Amid the ongoing Coronavirus scare, the nation of Canada closed its borders on March 21 and immediately implemented the Quarantine Act. The legislation requires screening travelers at the Canadian/U.S. border and an additional 14 days of isolation, even when no Coronavirus symptoms are shown. With a proposal for a Major League Baseball season that would begin in July, the Toronto Blue Jays may be required to play their home games at TD Ballpark in Dunedin, Florida. TD Ballpark serves as the Blue Jay’s home stadium during spring training.

The Toronto Blue Jays are Major League Baseball’s only franchise based in Canada. The National Hockey League would be more greatly affected by the border issues with teams in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Edmonton. The state of Florida has also implemented similar travel measures which would impact baseball teams playing the Tampa Bay Rays and Miami Marlins.

The proposed plan that would allow the 2020 MLB season to resume would begin in July, and would include the following.

  • An 82 game regular season versus divisional opponents
  • National League teams would adopt the designated hitter concept used in the American League
  • 14 teams would make the playoffs instead of the regular 10 with the addition of 4 Wildcard teams
  • Rosters would be expanded from 26 players to 30 players
  • Players will receive a 50/50 split of revenue the team receives during the regular and postseason

The only other alternative would be for the Toronto Blue Jays to play all of their scheduled games as the visiting team in other MLB cities. If Toronto baseball fans are like the rest of us, they’d be satisfied with baseball just returning to television. 

 

Related Articles